The invention relates to a gearshift lever for a single-track or multi-track motor vehicle comprising a lever arm and at least one gearshift pedal. The invention further relates to a gearshift pedal for the gearshift lever of a single-track or multi-track vehicle.
Generic gearshift levers serve to change the gear ratio of the transmission of single-track motor vehicles, such as motorcycles or scooters, or of multi-track motor vehicles, such as so-called trikes or quads; the driver of the motor vehicle actuates the gearshift lever with a foot. The gearshift levers are designed in such a way here that shifting can be carried out quickly and without a great deal of force, so the motor vehicle can be driven in an optimal fashion with regard to a gear ratio that is suitable for a driving situation and a change of same that may be necessary. Furthermore, the gearshift levers are designed in such a way that the movement radius for their actuation is as small as possible. It has to be ensured here, however, that the gearshift lever is not accidentally actuated. These measures prevent the muscles of the vehicle driver from getting tired during longer trips, and therefore with numerous instances of shifting, which causes the operating comfort of the motor vehicle to be disadvantageously curtailed.
As a rule, a gearshift lever of this type is arranged in such a way on the motor vehicle that it is actuated with the toes of one foot by pressing it upwards to increase the gear ratio (upshift) or by pressing it downwards to reduce the gear ratio (downshift). To this end, the gearshift lever is comprised of a lever arm and a gearshift pedal that is fastened to the lever arm and that extends at a right angle from it. Designing a shifting device with two lever arms, each of which has a gearshift pedal, is also known, though, for instance from DE 10 2009 015 710 A1. A further lever arm is fastened to the fulcrum of the one lever arm here; one lever arm extends forward and the other lever arm extends to the rear. A shifting process can also be initiated by actuating the lever arm extending to the rear with the gearshift pedal fastened to it with the heel of a foot of the driver of the motor vehicle with this shifting device. According to the document that was cited, the gearshift pedal of the lever arm extending to the rear is swivel-mounted on it, so the driver of the motor vehicle can choose whether he would like to initiate a shifting process with the toes or with the heel of a foot by swiveling the gearshift pedal of the lever arm extending to the rear into his choice of the desired position.
In the case of gearshift levers whose gearshift pedal is designed to be operated with the toes of a foot, there is the problem that the gearshift pedal will slide along the shoe of the driver of the motor vehicle during the upshifting process; frictional resistance is to be overcome because of this, on the one hand, and there is undesired wear on the top part of the shoe of the driver of the motor vehicle, on the other hand. Furthermore, an abraded portion of the rubber sheathing, which gearshift pedals frequently have, also remains on the top of the shoe. The muscles of the driver of the motor vehicle are strained in overcoming the frictional resistance, which is why this effect contributes to tiring of the muscles and therefore detracts from the operating comfort of the motor vehicle. The wear on the shoe and the abraded particles on the shoe disadvantageously detract from its visual appearance. To solve this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,617 A proposes a cushion that can be connected to the gearshift pedal via two loops so that the cushion is always located between the shoe of the driver of the motor vehicle and the gearshift pedal.
This cushion prevents a rubber sheathing of the gearshift pedal from leaving behind traces of abraded particles and impressions on the shoe. Moreover, the cushion reduces tiring of the muscles of the driver of the motor vehicle and therefore the accompanying muscle soreness. The cushion has a rigid base plate and a cushion made of foamed rubber or flexible neoprene. Two loops are affixed to the base plate; the cushion can be arranged on a gearshift pedal with their assistance. A drawback of this cushion is, to start with, the fact that it has to be purchased separately. A further drawback is that the cushion is located between the gearshift pedal and the shoe of the driver of the motor vehicle, which causes the movement radius to initiate a shifting process to be reduced and which could result in an undesired actuation of the gearshift lever, bringing about a situation in which a driver of a motor vehicle will not assume a relaxed foot position to prevent early upshifting. Furthermore, the cushion has the drawback that the actuation of a gearshift lever equipped with this cushion is unfamiliar to most drivers of corresponding motor vehicles and they therefore reject it.